Synopsis

Hyperactive Excel does anything and everything to try to please her lord, Il Palazzo, who wants to take over the planet. Excel's misadventures takes her and her partner, the ever-dying Hyatt, all over the world, meeting several strange people as they go. Everything is bizarre and goofy, as any kind of anime or entertainment genre gets mocked and spoofed.

This show is one of the definitions of random. I will say right now, if you demand structure or linear plot lines, turn back now.

Excel Saga actually not only tells the story of Excel and her escapades, but it is actually three different story lines going at once.

We have the tale of Excel, Pedro, and The Neighbors that work for the city.
With that said, the story is not easily reviewable but here goes.

Well to tell the truth, there really is no story (aside from trying to take over the city) until the last few episodes when random twists of fate bring all three story
lines together (dont worry that didn't ruin anything)

Each episode of Excel saga is meant to be a parody of different genre, for instance, there is a sci-fi episode, a fantasy episode, a &quot;power rangers/sailor moon&quot; type one, etc etc. Throughout the course of these episodes, stranger and stranger things start happening and its always entertaining, sometimes funny, sometimes WTF.

The episodes that dont so much focus on Excel have no plot either, and are more of the &quot;daily life&quot; type anime episodes.

As for the art, the animation is top notch. Everything is well colored, choreographed, and presented. They make use of a wide array of animation styles for the various episodes and characters which is a plus.

The sound......i dont even know. This is one of the reasons you love it or hate it. Excel talks extremely fast about the most random things and she can get to be very annoying, or very entertaining. And you may think that &quot;oh she can't talk like this the whole time&quot; but you are wrong, almost the entire time she is running that jaw of hers. Dub or sub, she sounds the same, i dont have a recommendation, pick whichever you normally watch.

Aside from the vocal tracks, the music is quite entertaining. The character themes and sound effects play a big role to help emphasize scenes and actions.

As for enjoyment, I personally found the show very entertaining although at times i did want excel to just STFU but it was worth it in the end to watch it. Dont watch this for any kind of epic plot because you will be disappointed, but if you want highly entertaining, high energy and comical times, check this show out.

Excel Saga is a pure slapstick anime made to do nothing but try to produce a comedy satire of EVERY anime genre made. It actually does a pretty good job making fun of them all. The entire fact that they're just spoofing anime creates a very weak story line. But they do manage to keep a story to keep it all together, albeit full of holes and non seriousness.

Character
The story mainly follows 2 main characters as they're "trying to take over the world" for a company called ACROSS, i forgot what the acronym stood for. The two girls, Excel and Hyatt, all work under
a man called Ilpalazzo. The great thing about the two main characters is that they're complete polar opposites of each other. Excel, is your typical over eccentric and stupidly ignorant girl, and Hyatt, is very under eccentric and is actually pretty smart. Its funny in a sense that they are Literally different from each other. They're not the only characters in the show tho. There are at least a good dozen characters that keep reappearing but always displayed in different situations.

Art and Sound
The art and animation is typical pre-2000 style artwork. Its all kind of lame in my opinion, but they do show their artistic variety in how they have to draw drastically different environments with every episode. The music is forgettable, although you'll laugh at the ED a few times it gets annoying after the 3-4th time listening to it. The op is a little catchy and its a nice touch to have hyatt cough during her singing.

Enjoyment
The best part of the anime is the line execution or the script. The use of the word "Shock" and the running joke of her eating her dog among all the other hundreds of jokes makes this show stand out so much. The simplistic lines flow very well with the simple artwork and characters. They even go far as copying characters from from digi charat, to fist of the northstar, to shinesman (you'll think its power rangers but its really a spoof off of Shinesman), really show the voice range and artistic range albeit a little simple.

Overall
This show does have its high points but its also with its downsides. If you're really into anime comedy, then this would be a good pickup, but even if you're not into the comedy genre it still would not be bad to pickup and watch since there is the possibility of you seeing one of your favorite "classic" anime or genre get spoofed. You'll see jokes coming from lolicon to androids, to poverty jokes, you'll see a little of everything here. It's definitely a different style of comedy and Nabeshin's comedy style transfers very well to his other work, Nerima Daikon Brothers. This anime is not for most people but you'll enjoy the ending

Manga/Anime: Excel Saga was originally an manga created by Rikdo Koshi. It began running in Young King OURS in the April 1997 issue, and is still running at this point in time, at. Viz has licensed it Stateside, and the sixteenth volume (and the latest volume to be compiled over in Japan) was released on September 11th, 2007.

The anime version was produced by JC Staff (best known for Revolutionary Girl Utena and Honey and Clover), and directed by Shinichi Watanabe (well-known for Nerima Daikon Brothers and Tenchi Muyo! GXP). It ran on TV from October 7th, 1999 to March 30th,
2000. It has been licensed by ADV Stateside, and the sixth and final volume was released April 8th, 2003.

Story: ...Story? What story? xD

Basic plot follows ACROSS' (leader Ilpalazzo and lackeys Excel and Hyatt) attempts to take over the world.

And really, that's about it. Because each and every episode can be taken as a self-contained standalone (except for the last ones), and there's almost no continuity, except in the characters, and one or two basic plot elements.

You see, this anime is a parody of every single genre/major show in the history of evah. Sports anime? Done. Youth drama? Done. Gundam? Done. Dragonball? Done. End of the world? ...You get the idea. They even do an episode just to see how far they can violate TV censorship rules.

It's got some good gags. But it's not satire material. It's still pretty well done, though.

Art: There's not a lot to be said here, because it all depends on what they decide to mock each episode. xD But whatever they choose to mock, they do it well.

Music: The lyrics to the OP are hilarious, and the fact that they're sung so horribly out of tune is the only reason the OP stands out. The ED stands out for the fact that it's just a dog barking/woofing/howling, with a translator translating them into a human language for us.

The background music, as always, depends on what they're trying to mock each episode. But as with the art style and story, it's done well. I've still got some random themes bouncing around in my head...

Seiyuu: The big thing for this one is that they got Kotono Mitsuishi (Sailor Moon's seiyuu) to do this, so when they do magical girl parodies, it's even more hilarious, because in a way, she's mocking herself (they even do some very specific mockings of Sailor Moon herself). xD They do this with several other seiyuu. Also, Ilpalazzo's seiyuu is Hotohori's seiyuu (from Fushigi Yuugi) and Touga Kiryuu's seiyuu (Revolutionary Girl Utena), and his seiyuu is right up there with Joji Nakata for me. So, overall, WIN.

Length: I cannot think of a single genre or major show that they did not mock (and any ones that do come to mind are only because they were released after this). Plus, it starts to drag a little at the end. So, yeah, just right.

Oh my god this show is always great no matter how many times I watch it. I was almost in tears watching Excel Saga again. The box set doesn't lie when it warns you about the comedy.

Characters 9.0/10

Amazing characters. When I first started watching Excel saga back in 2005 I actually didn't like the main character Excel. I found her annoying, unfunny, and her personality was awful. 2009 comes around and I decide to watch it again and I was like "okay, this is okay, I think she's alright." Here it is, 2016 and I absolutely love Excel! So it took lots of time not
only for excel to grow on me but the other supporting characters too. Hyatt, Menchi, and Pedro became some of my favorite supporting characters in the show.

Story 8.0/10

What can I say, it is bad, ridiculous, both plot and story! However its biggest and greatest redeeming factor is that it does manage to stay fresh, comedic, absolutely hilarious! fourth wall breaking, brand advertising, cameos, skits, the story is all over the place with great content, consistently too. For the most part Excel saga's "story" and "plot" for each episode is pretty easy to follow. The producers and creator do follow a lot of the original work which is good. The pacing of each episode really varies based on content and other elements, so some episodes can be slow and others fast paced. There are serious, or somewhat serious dialogue in certain episodes however for the most part they were just part of the skit.

Soundtrack 7.5/10

Music was pretty good! My favorite thing about early 90's and early/late 2000's anime shows is the opening & ending songs. Most deliver really catchy opening songs. Love Hina, Azumanga Daioh, just to name of few, have those catchy intro where you either get the song stuck in your head or don't skip it due to the fact that you're singing along to it.

I loved the voice acting done in Excel Saga! My favorite thing about the show is for its time, there was an awful lot lot of English used and spoken fluently. In addition to the speaking, the voice actors did a pretty good job when it came to using english references and jokes. I loved it!

Animation & Art 7.0/10

Pretty good all things considered. I think the animation was good for its time. Special effects looked pretty mediocre however they are still tolerable. Character designs were pretty great. I have no complaints there. Overall I was pretty okay with what I watched.

Enjoyment 8.0/10

I could not help but enjoy Excel Saga, it is hilarious! The performances were good, the pacing of the show was great. I gave Excel Saga 8/10 because I felt that it has a great lasting appeal. If I ever needed to watch a 90's anime comedy that I could actually laugh at, then I would most likely return to Excel Saga! overall I loved it.

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